Everyone exclaimed in delight to see Brevyn with me, and I squealed to see my children, going for all four of them at once. Since they were gathered in a little pack, it wasn't difficult. Lesya and Vero, who were five and three respectively but looked more like seven and six thanks to their shapeshifter genes, stood behind the twins, Sebastian and Dominic, who were only two years old and looked it, but they also had their father's midnight-black feathered wings and took up a bit more space than your average two-year-old.
The twins banished their wings when I crouched to hug them, and all four of my babies rushed into my arms, crying “Mama” or a version of it. I didn't have enough arm-length to enclose them as I would have liked, but I made do, hugging them all together before focusing on each child individually. By the time I stood to kiss my husbands, Brevyn had explained why he'd tagged along and was onto telling everyone about his new baby sister.
“So, Samara is as we hoped?” Odin asked, his hand still stroking my back after our kiss.
“Well, she has the same coloring, so that's a good sign.” I kissed him again. “Oh, I've missed you and your beautiful eyes.”
Odin grinned and turned his face to the light, setting the multicolored striations in his peacock-colored eyes aglow. “I've missed you too. For the entire three seconds you've been gone.”
“Yes, very funny.” I rolled my eyes. “It's been five months for me.”
“Mommy, when do we get to see Samara?” Vero asked.
“After I go back next time. Then I'll bring her over without traveling through time.”
“Okay.” His little hand slipped into mine.
“Did you get taller since I left?”
Vero laughed. “It's only been a few seconds!”
I stroked his thick, dark hair. “I know, but I swear you look bigger to me.”
“I think I'm getting bigger,” Trevor whispered in my ear. “My pants are feeling a little snug.”
“Well, keep them on for now, big boy,” I whispered back.
Trevor chuckled wickedly, then bent to speak to Vero. “Why don't you show your brother the castle's new arsenal?”
“Arsenal?” Brevyn perked up.
“We've got bigger supersoakers, foam arrows, and even a catapult for water balloons!” Vero said as he grabbed Brevyn's hand and pulled him toward the front doors.
“A catapult?” Brevyn looked back at me. “We don't have a catapult at Castle Aithinne.”
“Because you and your faerie friends would put more than water balloons in it,” I said.
Brevyn just grinned.
I shook my head, knowing that would be the first thing he talked to Arach about upon his return to Faerie.
“Should I text Thor?” Odin asked as we followed the kids outside.
“Sure,” I said. “Tell him if it's a bad time, he doesn't have to pick up Brevyn today. Brev is fine here until Thor's ready.”
“All right.” Odin pulled out his cell phone and started texting.
The rest of us went out to the veranda—made to look like a lowered drawbridge. It spanned a moat fed by the nearby swimming pool. Brevyn dropped his bag by a Victorian loveseat, handed me his father's ring, then ran off with the other kids to join Zariel at the mini-castle I'd built for them. Sam and Fallon, Zariel's parents, were already on the veranda, drinking lemonade while they watched over their daughter. Samantha's a werewolf from Trevor's pack and Fallon's one of my werelions, so they were yet another tie between the Froekn and Intare, but their daughter was, thanks to my magical meddling, pure Intare, the first Intare to be born as opposed to transformed by magic.
Speaking of magic-made Intares, Austin, the first Intare I had ever made (the others had been transformed by the previous Intare Goddess), was sitting with Sam and Fallon. He stood up as I reached them, not just to hug me, which is why Fallon and Samantha got up, but because that's what a gentleman does when a lady joins a seated group.
“Hey, guys,” I said as I hugged Fallon, then Samantha. “Austin, how are you?” I hugged him last.
“Same as when you left a minute ago.” He shook his head and grinned. “That's gonna take some time ta git used to.”
“Not as much as it will take to get used to being a werelion.”
“I dunno.” He tipped his cowboy hat back. “I think I'm gettin' the swing of it. That run we went on this mornin' was amazing.”
